1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems for gathering and processing medical data to support rating decisions in the adjudication of insurance and disability requests.
2. Description of the Related Art
Government agencies and insurance companies have developed rules for adjudication of insurance or disability requests. Examples of insurance or disability programs include the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program, the Social Security Disability Insurance program, the Workers' Compensation program, various property and casualty insurance programs, and so forth.
In order to adjudicate a request made by a claimant, certain medical evidence is required. Medical evidence requirements refers to requirements of information about a claimant that is relevant to the medical conditions claimed by the claimant, such as the age and gender of the claimant, physical examination data, laboratory test data and medical history data pertinent to the claims, and so forth. The requirements are specified by rules developed by the government agency or by the insurance company, pertinent case law, government regulations, legislation and administrative decisions, and so forth. For example, the requirements may specify that if a claimant claims a certain medical condition, a medical provider must conduct certain physical examinations and laboratory tests on the claimant or ask certain questions. The requirements may also specify, for example, that a claimant must have a range of motions less than a certain degree to claim a limb disability. Requirements can also be specified by conventional medical knowledge, for example requiring a certain test to confirm a particular claimed condition.
The rating rules are normally documented in manuals that may have many different titles, herein referred to as “rating books.” A rating code refers to a classification used by the government agency or insurance company that typically refers to a medical condition or a class of medical conditions in a rating book. The collection of rating rules, rating codes, pertinent legislation and case law for an insurance or disability program is herein referred to as the “rules collection” for that program. The rating rules may include rules on how to make a rating decision based on the collected medical evidence and the rating codes. For example, in a V.A. disability program, the rules collection typically specifies a disability percentage range based on rating codes and collected medical evidence. A V.A. rating personnel reviews the rating codes and medical evidence, and specifies a disability percentage within the range.
In a disability or insurance request process, the claimant typically visits a hospital, clinic or medical office. A medical provider such as a physician or a nurse collects medical evidence from the claimant to support a rating decision. The rating decision is typically made by the government agency or the insurance company based on the medical evidence collected by the medical provider and based on the rules collection. The medical providers are typically provided with documents generally referred to as “physician's disability evaluation” or “medical examination handbooks” to assist them with collecting medical evidence. The handbooks are herein referred to as “medical handbooks”. The medical handbooks typically contain the medical evidence requirements for the rules collection.
Whereas the rating books are typically intended for the rating personnel in the government agency or insurance company, the medical handbooks are typically intended for the medical providers. Although they are somehow related, the rating books and medical handbooks typically contain very few direct cross-references. In addition, the medical providers often are not familiar with the rules collection of the insurance or disability program, and make mistakes in using the medical handbooks. Therefore, the required medical evidence can be omitted or entered incorrectly, thus affecting the making of a correct rating decision. In addition, the rating personnel, who typically have only limited medical knowledge, must spend considerable time to review the medical information collected by the medical providers. What is desired is an automated system that provides instructions to medical providers to collect medical evidence based on the rules collection of the insurance or disability program. What is also desired is a system that provides supporting information in a user-friendly format to assist rating personnel in making a rating decision based on the collected medical evidence.
In many cases, a claimant makes claims for multiple medical conditions. The conventional practice is to complete a medical evidence document for each claimed condition. This results in significant duplication of effort as duplicate medical data is gathered and identical medical procedures might be conducted multiple times. Therefore, what is desired is a system that eliminates the duplications.
To better illustrate the drawbacks of conventional practices and the need for better systems, the VA Compensation and Pension (C&P) program is described as an example. This government program provides payments of benefits to military veterans for medical disability resulting from their military service. The rating rules are included in the Code of Federal Regulations 38-CFR, the governing legislation, and in a rating book. The related medical handbook is a series of documents titled Automatic Medical Information Exchange (AMIE) worksheets. These worksheets specify the medical evidence required and the procedures to be utilized for each claimed condition included in 38-CFR. There are currently over fifty separate AMIE worksheets covering a wide array of claims, from a Prisoner of War Protocol Examination to Scars Examination. Each worksheet is designed as a stand-alone medical document for the particular claimed disability. In addition to the AMIE worksheets, legislatively mandated requirements, administrative requirements, and court ordered information have, from time to time, specified other medical evidence or dictated the manner in which it is to be collected. Significant training and experience is required to familiarize medical providers with the worksheets and the additional requirements. Significant delays and extra cost in claims processing are encountered when required medical evidence is not provided or incorrect procedures are conducted. Additionally, the claimant frequently claims multiple disabilities. These can number up to twenty or more claims for one claimant. The current practice is to complete an AMIE worksheet with all the requirements for each claimed disability. This results in unnecessary duplication of procedures with the entailed extra costs and time.